Effect of Adding Fermented Juice of Epiphytic Lactic Acid Bacteria Prepared with Different Sources and Levels of Soluble Carbohydrates on Chemical Composition, Fermentation and Quality Characteristics of Wheat Straw Silages

This study was conducted in Nutrition laboratory belonged to Animal Production Department-Agriculture College - Al-Qasim Green University to investigate the effect of adding fermented juice of epiphytic lactic acid bacteria (FJLB) prepared with different sources and levels of water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) on chemical composition, fermentation and quality characteristics of wheat straw silages (WSS). The FJLB was prepared from wild reed plant with three sources of WSC including glucose (G) at 1 and 2% (w/v, FJLB-G₁, FJLB-G₂), cane molasses (M) at 3 and 5% (w/v, FJLB-M₃, FJLB-M₅) and date molasses (D) at 3 and 5% (w/v, FJLB-D₃, FJLB-D₅). According to the source and level of FJLB, six samples of WSS were prepared by adding each FJLB at level of 1%. For control WWS, distilled water was added at similar quantity as FJLB (WWS-C). Urea and molasses were added to all samples at level of 1 and 10% on dry matter (DM) basis. Samples of WSS were tightly packed in double plastic bags and ensiled anaerobically for 45 days. Color of WSS samples were characterized with acceptable smell. Results showed that there was a significant decrease (p<0.01) in DM content of WWS samples prepared with FJLB-M₃ and FJLB-M₅ as compared with WWS-C. However, crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE) and crude fiber (CF) contents in WWS were not affected by addition of FJLB. Addition of FJLB improved fermentation characteristics of WWS, lactic acid (LA) and volatile fatty acids (VFA) were significantly (p<0.01) increased. Moreover, lower (p<0.01) DM losses were estimated in WSS prepared FJLBs.